Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 18, 2020

Today is the birthday of Luc Besson, director and producer of films such as Nikita and The Fifth Element. He was born in 1959.

March 18th is also the birthday of novelist John Updike. (He was born in 1932 and died in 2009.)

Have you noticed that the silver-to-gold price ratio just hit a high of 115-to-1?  If you can find a local dealer with any physical silver on hand, then this would be a great time to ratio trade out gold, into silver.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 87 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.




21 Comments

  1. It would probably be hard to find silver at Comex paper prices at the moment, but if they can hold it this low for awhile, the odds go up. It can probably held here for awhile as the markets have a long way yet to fall. Gold and silver are the enemies of fiat currency.

        1. Tunnel Rabbit… please know this was not directed at you personally… it was meant to shine light on the present situation… TY for all that you contribute to SB… I read all your posts knowing that I may / will learn something

          1. Thank you for posting that link RCB5472TN! There are still some of us here who appreciate the big picture view and don’t care to read another rambling, word salad diatribe about reusing N95 masks in the comment section. Good on you!

          2. It is good that you are bring this to our attention. Thanks. Personally I am very aware of the big picture, yet many are not, so I do self censor a bit.

    1. Since market open on Sun premium has gone through the roof,with the premium PM are more expensive than a week or two ago. If only paper contracts could be forced delivery(only contracts that can’t), I am curious how much counterfeit would try to be delivered-comex repeatedly caught last several years.

  2. My husband went into a coin shop to buy some physical silver and he said the place was packed, all the dimes were sold (they usually have a lot of those) and all he could get was quarters and half dollars which are all good, we get what we can.

  3. Just got a notice (I subscribe to USGS) 5.7 Earthquake 10 miles W Salt Lake City, Utah

    I’m noticing a lot more quakes in general lately.

    I’m assuming that is a pretty decent rattler.

    Rock on

  4. Texas Precious Metals has stock and has more coming, including junk sliver.

    Click in the gray banner at the very top of the page to see what is available, and what is on its way.

    https://www.texmetals.com/

    I punched a few numbers and after paying premiums for 1 oz coins, the gold to silver ratio is 1:80. If you can find 100 oz silver bars, it increases up to 1:115 so that’s a great deal if you’re just trading gold for silver as an investment.

  5. Folks are struggling about church services. Based on this article by NC Scout,
    using a short range FM broadcast station, you could simulate a drive in theater, put the preacher in the back of a pickup, and have folks stay in their vehicles using their FM radios.

    Radio Contra Episode 7
    Posted by NC Scout
    Jan 24, 2020
    https://www.americanpartisan.org/2020/01/radio-contra-episode-7/

    Signstek 7W 7C FM Transmitter Mini Radio Stereo Station PLL LCD with Antenna, Black
    by Signstek
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CGVHJ32

    1. I tipped SurvivalBlog readers to Rhodium a couple of years ago. If they bought then, and then sold a few months ago when I advised it (right near the top) –then they would have made a handsome profit.

      1. Your sell call seems like it was only three weeks ago or a month, right near the top. You must have held on to your Radio Shack crystal ball after all these years. That was a very impressive call. Let us know when Radio Shack says to get back in! lol. 🙂

  6. Any shortfalls on respirators (ventilators) or hospital rooms can be attributed to the commercialization of hospitals and the greed of insurance companies. Hospitals strive for 100% bed occupancy like they are a hotel not a healthcare resource. That is why you spend hours in recovery waiting for a bed. They no longer keep what they might need on hand , only what they know they can sell with the insurance carriers approval. When they are called upon to serve their original intended service they fall woefully short. Meanwhile their CEO’s rake in millions. Doctors no longer determine your medical care an insurance bean counter does. Tragic. Sorry ,this response is prompted by some days earlier postings.

    1. Don, they haven’t been “hospitals” for many years. They’re “medical centers” now. There is a difference. And I agree, the “care” they give isn’t very caring in a lot of cases.

    2. This is unfair and inaccurate to hospitals. Some hospitals have actually closed their doors in the past because of lack of funding/income. They are not magically funded, they must be managed by someone who understands business. Ditto for insurance companies. If you think this is so profitable and so easy to manage I would suggest you startup your own insurance company or hospital and you can be a multi-millionaire in no time.

    3. My intent was not to belittle dedicated staff and administration in hospitals. They are under appreciated. I send a heart felt thank you to all of them.

Comments are closed.